More disclaimerrrr. Characters & anything else that you recognize belong to Stephenie Meyer.
This one is ...sort of different. It just came to me. I'm interested to know what you think about it. Check it out =):
Nessie stood next to Alice and across from Jasper around the island in the kitchen.
"Humans and wolves eat a lot," Alice commented as they prepared more ingredients for cooking.
Bella and Esme had insisted on making the main courses for Jake and Nessie's wedding, so Alice had volunteered herself and Jasper to make the desserts for the humans (and wolves) that would be attending. They had already made tons of cookies, of all different flavors, and tarts. Now, they were starting to work on the miscellaneous desserts.
She was saving the best part for last; the making of the cake.
"The wolves eat a lot, but I think it's mostly out of boredom," Renesmee commented.
Alice let out a breath and very humanly put her hands on the back of her head, weaving her fingers under her hair, holding it up and off of her neck. She wasn't tired; she had never been tired and had no idea about what tired felt like. But she was anxious. She hoped that the food would be perfect and finished in time. It frustrated her that she would have no idea if the food was perfect until Nessie or Jacob had the chance to try it.
She froze in that position, with her hands holding her hair up, and Nessie gave her a smile of reassurance. She knew, from her twenty two birthday parties, her graduation from high school party, and her first graduation from college party, that her aunt was a perfectionist.
As Renesmee looked at her, though, she saw something about Alice that she had never, in her whole life, noticed before. She squinted to make sure that she was seeing correctly.
On the back of Alice's neck, there was the tiniest crescent shaped scar.
Jasper felt the spurt of confusion in Nessie's emotions and gave her a look, inquiring what she was puzzled about. But then he saw where she was looking and he knew.
Nessie couldn't help but at least ask. She was more than comfortable with her entire family, and they never had a problem answering any questions. In fact, she had just recently gotten into the habit of picking one of Jasper's scars and asking for the story of how he got it. This always made Alice chuckle with great amusement. Apparently, Nessie reminded her of herself.
So Renesmee put her hand to Alice's face and showed her the scar that she saw on the back of her aunt's neck. The tone of a question surrounded the picture.
Alice blinked and turned quickly to her, taking her hands out of her hair immediately, so that the scar was covered again.
Renesmee met her gaze, waiting for Alice to answer her. Had she been in a fight before? Was it while she was with Jasper, or before she met him? Renesmee understood the nature of Jasper's scars, but Alice had never been in any vampire wars, like he had...
Alice looked over at Jasper, then, and he laughed at her bewilderment. She had no idea what to tell Renesmee.
His laughter only confused Nessie more. She had no doubt that Alice's look had told Jasper everything; Nessie was more than used to their silent conversations. But she didn't understand what was so amusing about Alice... Jasper's Alice... being bitten?
Alice went back to cooking as she thought, knowing that Renesmee would wait patiently for her to respond. It wasn't that she had been hiding the scar... in fact, she absolutely loved it. It's just that no one had ever noticed it before now. Ever. Not even Edward.
-~-~-Flashback-~-~-
They were in Texas. Alice had always wanted to see where Jasper had grown up, and Jasper thought that it was partially because she had no human memories of her own. But he didn't mind sharing his... whatever made her happy made him happy.
They had explored throughout the night, and he had made sure to keep an eye out, not wanting to run in to the middle of a vampire war zone.
Before they had come, Alice had decided that she wanted to see a few of the places where he had gotten some of his scars.
"Why?" he had asked, bewildered at the thought. But she had just smiled.
"It helps me picture it," she explained. Why anyone would want to picture something like that baffled him, but he had learned, after his first few days with Alice, not to ever question her. She had a mind of her own; her thoughts never ceased to amuse and amaze him.
So he had brought her to Texas and showed her a few of the infamous battle areas. While he was re-telling the story, she would point to the exact scar that he had gotten while in that location. He never had to show her; she just remembered from the story.
After touring, he took her out into a desert-like area, miles away from civilization, and they sat in the sand, enjoying the warm climate.
Alice played with desert sand, letting it slide through her fingers. "It's so...warm," she commented.
He nodded with a laugh, "Yeah, it gets hot in Texas."
She crinkled her nose as she smiled, "I like it here. I could imagine you here."
"There's a lot of sun," he said lightly, making small talk.
She changed the subject. "So what scar did you get here?"
He looked around. "Here? No... no battles here. This just has a clear view of the sky. You like the sky."
"No battles here," she repeated, looking around. "No battles means no scars."
He was used to her unique reasoning, but he wasn't following her train of thought yet, so he just nodded.
She moved closer to him, so that the bare skin of her leg was barely grazing his. She looked up at him and lightly ran her fingers over his arms, her eyes staring into his. As always, he could feel how much she cared for him. He could feel her happiness, her excitement, but he could also decipher a bit of nervousness.
He sent her nervousness back to her and then sent his confusion about her emotions, so that she would understand that he didn't know why she was nervous.
She bit her lip and he smiled at how human the action was. She had picked up some human behaviors and habits when she had been hiding amongst them, searching for him.
Then, she took him by surprise and leaned in, slowly taking his lips between her own. He kissed her back, feeling the jolt of electricity that pulsed through him at her touch.
He licked his lips, tasting the sweetness of her that still lingered there. The taste of her on his lips was second only to the taste of human blood; and sometimes, that was debatable.
She searched his face, looking for something, and then slipped into a vision. He reached to wrap his arms around her, protecting her while she scanned her visions.
When she came back to him, a smile crept over her face. She was more confident now.
"What would you do if you weren't able to know how I would react before you asked me something, I wonder?" Jasper told her, feeling a sense of curiosity rising up in her.
She grinned, her whole face lighting up. "We'll never know."
"I guess not," he chuckled, paying close attention to her. He waited for her to ask her question that he could feel coming on.
She put her arms around his neck and asked, very seriously, "Will you bite me?"
There was no other question in the world that would have taken him by more surprise. His utter shock at the question seeped into his emotions and then into hers, making her giggle.
"I didn't mean to startle you, Jazz," she told him, nuzzling her nose against his.
"I don't...understand..." he said slowly. She had asked him many things in their time together. She was never afraid to ask him anything. But this was the one thing that he would have never, even if he lived a million years, expected.
"I want you to bite me," she whispered.
"Why?"
He had known, from experience, that there were only two reasons to bite a vampire. The first: to show who was in control over another vampire. The second: to punish someone and cause them pain. He was not in control over Alice, nor did he want to be. And he would never want to punish her or cause her pain.
"Because I want to know what it feels like," she said innocently, as if it was obvious.
"No you don't," he told her gently, brushing her bangs out of her eyes.
"Yes I do," she insisted.
"Alice, it hurts... it burns. It's like... the feeling you get when you're particularly thirsty and there are humans all around you. The way that your throat burns... that's what it feels like. Only it's worse, because you can't soothe it. It burns for days, and then over time it fades... but it is... I can't even describe to you how much it hurts."
"Then don't describe it. Show me," she told him stubbornly, her eyes pleading with his.
"I refuse to do anything that will hurt you," he said decidedly. He knew that when she wanted something, she didn't stop until she got it. But he would not give in this time. He would not bite someone that he loved so much....
"I know. You would never do anything that would hurt me," she agreed.
He examined her face closely, trying to understand why she wanted it so badly. He could feel how much she wanted it...
She must have felt his confusion, because she tilted her head to the side and proceeded to explain what she was thinking.
"You have all of these scars, and I don't have any... and I know that they were put there to hurt you. But I don't know what that hurt felt like. And no matter how well you describe it, I'll never know unless I have one, too. I want to know what it felt like when they were hurting you...what you went through..." she confessed.
And then it clicked. She wanted it so that she could connect to him even more, if that was even possible. He chuckled lightly as he realized the reasoning behind her wanting him to bite her.
"Thank you," he whispered, "but you don't have to feel it, Alice."
"I know I don't have to, but I want to. I want to... I want to know what your venom feels like when it flows into me... does that make sense, Jasper?" she asked, even though they both knew that he understood.
He nodded, thinking for a long time. She wanted a love bite. She wanted some of him to always be with her. She wanted a scar that symbolized that he was part of her. It wasn't the same as when Maria would bite to mark them... this was a different kind of bite. It wasn't a symbol of possession, but one of love. Of trust. It was something that would speak beyond words.
He met her eyes again. "I'll only bite you if you do something for me."
"Of course. Anything," she promised fervently.
"You have to bite me, too."
She crinkled her brow as she looked at him, and then a slow smile spread across her face. "You're sure?"
"I've never been so sure."
She nodded in agreement. "Okay. But you first."
He looked at her for a long time, reading her emotions, and then obeyed her wishes. He leaned in to kiss her on the mouth, first. He reveled in the taste of her before his lips traveled to her neck. He could feel her want for him, and he smiled, even though he was nervous.
He moved his arm so that it was on her shoulder, and then he wrapped his other arm around her lower back, molding her into his body. He kissed her neck gently, before moving his mouth to the back of her neck. Then, holding her tightly against him, he sunk his teeth into her smooth skin as softly as he could, allowing just enough venom to leave his mouth so that she could feel it.
She tensed into him, her nails digging into his back, but didn't make a sound. Her emotions were exhilarating, driving him crazy with need for her.
He held her as tightly to him as he could, hoping that the bite hadn't hurt her too much. Then, he sealed the wound with his tongue before lightly kissing her fresh, irritated skin. She had tasted just as good as when she kissed him.
"I'm sorry," he whispered against her.
"Don't be," she whispered back, breathing heavily, fully feeling the burn. It was hotter than she had ever felt. It was a rush. She suddenly understood what it meant to be dizzy. To be breathless. To have a pounding heart. To feel pain. Pain. This was what it felt like to physically hurt. She had never known before. She had wanted to know what pain felt like, and now she knew. When humans were hurt, this was similar to how it sometimes felt.
That Jasper could help her feel it made her love for him soar even more.
She longed to run her fingers over the new scar to cool it down, but she didn't want to startle Jasper.
"Your turn," he said quietly. Neither of them had moved since he had bit her.
"Are you sure?" She pulled back and looked into his eyes. He had never seen her looking so alive.
"Yes," he replied simply.
"Is there...?" she started to ask.
"No. No special way. You just bite. Trust your instincts," he told her.
She nodded, totally lost in him, feeling intensely connected to him in this moment. It felt like they were the only two people who had ever existed.
"I trust you, Alice," he whispered, as her lips brushed lightly over his already scarred skin.
His hand found its way to the back of her neck, and he pressed his palm against her new scar to cool it slightly. He felt a rush of emotions shoot through her, too quickly for him to process, but he thought that they were good ones.
Then, after one last peck, she let her teeth graze his skin before piercing a smooth patch of skin on the back of his neck. She tasted him for a moment, her emotions making him feel light-headed, if that was possible.
She pulled away, after sealing it with her tongue, just as he had. Then she searched his eyes.
He could feel the new scar burning, but it didn't hurt. He knew that it was there. He knew that it should hurt. But despite the facts, this burning was cooler. Soothing. It was a promise.
"You're okay," she told him. Not a question.
"It doesn't hurt," he whispered.
"Hurt..." she reflected on the word, "I know what it means, now. Sort of."
He gave her a questioning glance at the addition of "sort of."
"I can feel the burning, but I wanted it... so I don't think it's as bad as it would be if someone had forced it on me," she explained, looking at him knowingly.
The way that they were looking at each other was as intense as the searing, burning love that was coursing through them.
"That is the one and only scar that you will ever have. And that is a promise," he vowed.
She nodded, and he continued.
"And this scar," he let his hand brush the back of his neck, where she had bit him, "this scar is the only one worth having."
She kissed him passionately and their emotions overtook them.
The desert got cold when the sun disappeared, but their identical scars pulsed with heat throughout the long night spent together.
-~-~-~-~-~-~-
"Ask Uncle Jazz," Alice said finally, after most of the preparation for the next dessert had been finished.
"Oh no," Jasper said immediately, flicking batter at her playfully. "Only you could possibly explain that one. To this day, I can't put words to it."
"Put words to what?" Nessie insisted, impatient now.
Alice giggled at how much she sounded like her mother.
"Fine. I'll put words to it. Jasper bit me."
As Nessie's eyes widened in shock, Jasper rolled his.
"Too blunt, Alice. She's even more confused now."
Renesmee knew that they were only talking out loud for her sake. They could have easily had this conversation through looks.
"All right," she conceded, "He bit me. But I asked him to."
This baffled her more, and Jasper and Alice chuckled together at her expression, their musical laughter filling the room.
"I don't know if I can explain it, Nessie," Alice said finally, truthfully, her eyes sparkling, "No one's ever noticed, so no one's ever asked."
Jasper and Alice exchanged a knowing look. Renesmee suddenly felt intrusive.
"I'm sorry if I was out of line by asking..." she tried to say, but Alice stopped her.
"You're fine. You can ask us anything. At any time," she assured.
"But sometimes things are better left unsaid...." Jasper finished for Alice.
He winked and turned around to do something to the oven. And that was when she saw the identical on the back of Jasper's neck.
Alice simply grinned, her teeth shining.
So there is another chapter of One. You're all phenomenal for sticking with me. And to new readers: welcome! =)
And I'm not sure if any of you are also reading my other story, Frayed, but I wanted to let you know that there is sort of a BONUS if you just read my latest Chapter 7, becauseeee
Chapter 7 contains a oneshot in the form of a flashback.
Sooo check it out if you're interested/craving more oneshots from me. You don't need to know what is going on in Frayed in order to enjoy the oneshot that I stuck in that chapter. [and if you decide to read it, and you love it, feel free to review it. or don't. up to you! =)]
Review please!
